“The recent grounding of Shell’s Kulluk oil rig amplifies the
risks of drilling in the Arctic. This is the latest in a series of
alarming blunders, including the near grounding of another of
Shell’s Arctic drilling rigs, the 47-year-old Noble Discoverer, in
Dutch Harbor and the failure of its blowout containment dome, the
Arctic Challenger, in lake-like conditions. SEEC Members believe
these serious incidents warrant thorough investigation.”

Shell has given up plans to drill for oil in the Alaskan Arctic
this year, after its oil-spill-containment dome was damaged during
exercises off the Washington Coast. See the story by Sean Cockerham
in the
Anchorage Daily News.

Meanwhile, the Washington Department of Ecology has ordered two
companies working on an oil-containment system in Bellingham to
apply for stormwater permits. Ecology determined in May that
permits were needed but decided to let things go, because work was
supposed to be completed by the end of July. Now it appears that
work will continue under other contracts. See Ecology news
release.

In Great Britain, the Environmental Audit Committee of the U.K.
Parliament has released a report questioning Arctic drilling in the
face of what is known about the risks.

“The oil companies should come clean and admit that dealing with
an oil spill in the icy extremes of the Arctic would be
exceptionally difficult.

“The infrastructure to mount a big clean-up operation is simply
not in place, and conventional oil spill response techniques have
not been proven to work in such severe conditions.”

—–

UPDATE, Sept. 11, 2012

Shell Oil stopped drilling in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea yesterday,
one day after drilling began, when the winds shifted and sea ice
began moving toward the drilling vessel. Both Shell officials and
opponents of Arctic drilling acknowledged that the challenge of sea
ice is a major issue in Arctic drilling, which Shell intends to
resume soon. Dan Joling of the
Associated Press has the story with additions by Anchorage
Daily News staff.
—–

Shell Oil Co. will be allowed to begin initial drilling and
other preparatory work in the Alaskan Arctic while waiting for its
oil-containment barge to arrive in the Chukchi Sea, Secretary of
Interior Ken Salazar said yesterday in an announcement that took
many people by surprise.

The Arctic Challenger,
shown in this Aug. 15 photo, is undergoing renovation in Bellingham
before heading to the Alaskan Arctic.AP Photo/Bellingham Herald, Russ
Kendall

As we have discussed before in
“Water Ways,” Shell Oil is still trying to start its drilling
this year before the sea ice moves in. The oil-containment barge
Arctic Challenger is still undergoing renovation in Bellingham but
could be leaving within a week.

Salazar told reporters in a press conference that the drilling
can go down 1,400 feet but will not reach oil deposits. Shell will
be allowed to excavate for a 40-foot-deep “cellar” in the seabed to
install the required blowout preventer.

“Under the drilling permit issued Thursday for the ‘Burger A
well,’ Shell says it first will drill a pilot hole, 1,300 feet deep
but just 8 1/2 inches in diameter, to reveal physical obstructions,
gas pockets or anything else that didn’t show up in seismic studies
and shallow hazard surveys already done.

“A bigger hole will be drilled part way down, and steel
conductor pipe will be encased in cement. Using a tool weighing
several tons, crews will excavate a mud-line cellar 40 feet deep to
hold the blowout preventer. Shell says the cellar will be deep
enough to prevent scouring from ice, one of the issues raised by
environmentalists.

“A 20-inch-diameter hole then will be drilled down to 1,300 or
1,400 feet, and workers will install casing, again surrounded in
cement, to add structure to the well. Drillers can either go deeper
from there, or cap the well for later work.”

Rick Steiner, a retired University of Alaska professor and PEER
board member, requested the cap test data under the Freedom of
Information Act but says the government failed to respond as
required by law. Steiner’s comment:

“The Department of Interior and Shell say that the capping stack
tests were rigorous and proved the equipment will work to stop a
wellhead blowout. But the public deserves to see the test results
to judge whether the testing was indeed rigorous, and whether the
capping stack actually works. That DOI is delaying release of the
results, and Shell is poised to begin drilling its first Arctic
Ocean wells within days, underscores the urgency here. This is why
we needed to sue to obtain the results.”

The Government
Accountability Office (GAO) has criticized the Interior
Department for not fully documenting its own oversight processes.
The GAO also warned that “environmental and logistical risks” of
drilling in the Arctic are not the same as for the Gulf of Mexico,
where many safety refinements have been made.

PEER’s attorney Kathryn Douglass made this point:

“Given its track record, Interior cannot just say ‘Trust us, we
have this covered.’ Complete transparency on this paramount issue
is essential for public confidence that the federal government is
not again accommodating oil companies at the expense of protecting
irreplaceable public resources.”

The oil-containment barge Arctic Challenger has had its own
challenges lately, including an enforcement order from the Washington Department of
Ecology following three small spills of hydraulic oil.

“Small spills lead to bigger spills. Our hope is that the
companies that are gearing up for oil work in Alaska and spilling
here will learn from our work with them and ensure spills of all
sizes are prevented everywhere they work.”

3 thoughts on “Initial Arctic drilling to start without containment”

Shell Oil stopped drilling in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea yesterday, one day after drilling began, when the winds shifted and sea ice began moving toward the drilling vessel. Both Shell officials and opponents of Arctic drilling acknowledged that the challenge of sea ice is a major issue in Arctic drilling, which Shell intends to resume soon. Dan Joling of the Associated Press has the story with additions from Anchorage Daily News staff.

Shell has given up plans to drill for oil in the Alaskan Arctic this year, after its oil-spill-containment dome was damaged during exercises off the Washington Coast. See the story by Sean Cockerham in the Anchorage Daily News.

Meanwhile, the Washington Department of Ecology has ordered two companies working on an oil-containment system in Bellingham to apply for stormwater permits. Ecology determined in May that permits were needed but decided to let things go, because work was supposed to be completed by the end of July. Now it appears that work will continue under other contracts. See Ecology news release.

In Great Britain, the Environmental Audit Committee of the U.K. Parliament has released a report questioning Arctic drilling in the face of what is known about the risks.

“The recent grounding of Shell’s Kulluk oil rig amplifies the risks of drilling in the Arctic. This is the latest in a series of alarming blunders, including the near grounding of another of Shell’s Arctic drilling rigs, the 47-year-old Noble Discoverer, in Dutch Harbor and the failure of its blowout containment dome, the Arctic Challenger, in lake-like conditions. SEEC Members believe these serious incidents warrant thorough investigation.”